Extraterrestrial Highway

Nevada State Route 375, Officially Named The Extraterrestrial Highway By The State In 1996 · Rachel, Nevada

The Extraterrestrial Highway is the name Nevada gave in 1996 to State Route 375, a two-lane road of roughly 98 miles through the high desert of Lincoln and Nye counties, from the junction with State Route 318 at Crystal Springs near Hiko to US 6 at Warm Springs. It runs along the eastern edge of the Nevada Test and Training Range, the restricted military land that holds the base at Groom Lake known worldwide as Area 51, and decades of UFO sightings, secret aircraft and rumour turned it into a pilgrimage road. What you actually find is a long, beautiful and very empty drive over sagebrush valleys and two mountain summits, with a big metal alien and gift shop at the start, a jerky stand, the Black Mailbox landmark and the tiny settlement of Rachel with the Little A'Le'Inn diner and motel. There is no fuel for most of the route and little or no phone signal. Military jets roar overhead, cattle wander on the open range and the night sky is among the darkest in the lower 48. The restricted boundary is real and guarded: look, never cross.

Nevada State Route 375, Rachel, Nevada, 89001, United States

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the highway itself is open 24 hours every day, with no gates or fees, though winter storms can close or slow the summits. The Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel usually keeps daytime diner and bar hours that vary by day and season, and may close on some weekdays or holidays. The Alien Research Center and E.T. Fresh Jerky keep daytime shop hours, often roughly mid-morning to late afternoon, and one or both can be closed for days. The traps that ruin a day are arriving in Rachel expecting fuel, finding the only diner shut, and driving a dirt road towards the range. Confirm current times before relying on them.

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